Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Thursday became the first woman lawmaker to receive an outstanding parliamentarian award.
Sushma Swaraj passed away into the ages on Tuesday night after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. Paying tribute to her, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said she was a prolific orator and outstanding Parliamentarian. As we mourn her loss, here's a look at the most memorable quotes from her address at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018.
'In the Congress, only those people who suck up to the leadership have value. I am not one of them.'
Journalist Anita Saluja was one of the last persons to meet Sushma Swaraj on August 6. She spent nearly an hour chatting with the late leader, which is why her sudden death later in the evening came as an unexpected shock for her. She talks to Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com about her association with Sushma Swaraj over the last few decades.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is fit to become the prime minister of the country.
'For the Hindutva lobby, there is cause for worry.'
'No more than 43 per cent of the people who were asked by Sushma Swaraj to say whom they supported stood by the trolls.' 'As many as 57 per cent do not approve of the minister's traducers,' says Amulya Ganguli.
After Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj endorsed Narendra Modi as party's prime ministerial candidate, senior party leader Gopinath Munde backed her saying the Gujarat chief minister is indeed a candidate for the post.
BJP sources said their party has consistently maintained that while it is committed to the formation of a separate state of Telangana, it also wanted the concerns of the Seema-Andhra region to be adequately addressed. Oddly enough, Sushma Swaraj did not press this issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Anita Katyal reports.
Rekha Gupta, a former DUSU president and a long-time member of the RSS, has been chosen as the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly and will become the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi. She won the Shalimar Bagh seat in the February 5 Assembly polls, defeating her AAP rival Bandana Kumari. Gupta, a BCom graduate and lawyer, has a long history of working for women's welfare, having served as the national secretary of the BJP's youth wing and the national vice-president of BJP Mahila Morcha. The BJP has returned to power in Delhi after over 26 years, ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
PIX: Ahana Deol's wedding reception in New Delhi.
Swaraj directed the Indian HC in Islamabad to issue a visa to her for medical treatment.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Monday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government convene an all-party meeting over the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail before making any statement on it in the Parliament.
Claiming that the government at the Centre is actually in a minority, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said mid-term general elections are a possibility for which her party is fully geared up for. "The politics of the country is changing every day and in view of the present situation, there is a possibility of mid-term Lok Sabha polls," said Swaraj, who was in Dewas to take part in the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee's meeting.
However, the minister took it on the chin and retweeted some of the tweets that were even abusive and communal in nature.
The Union health minister said the vaccine's clinical trials were on.
Gurpreet alleged that she and her seven-year-old daughter had been kept in a refugee camp in Germany by her husband's family.
Sushma Swaraj arrived in Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Wednesday night on her first official visit abroad after becoming External Affairs Minister during which she will hold talks with the top leadership on key bilateral issues including land boundary agreement, proposed Teesta river pact and illegal immigration.
A combative External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said she was ready for a debate in Parliament over Congress allegations about her links with controversial former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi.
At a time when Sushma Swaraj is under fierce opposition attack for "helping" Lalit Modi obtain United Kingdom travel documents, her external affairs ministry has refused to provide any information about the passport issue involving the scandal-tainted former Indian Premier League boss.
The possibilities of this serviceable thriller are immense but the makers prefer to play it safe and hold back the daredevil in the diplomat's clothing, observes Sukanya Verma.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday that the Indian mother superior of an aid home in Aden, where four nuns were killed and an Indian priest was kidnapped by gunmen, has been safely evacuated.
'Pakistan persists in the belief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets. Their plans will not succeed.'
Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to field Sushma Swaraj from Bhopal in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections not gone down well with party workers and leaders in Madhya Pradesh.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday gave 'gurumantra' on how to become a popular legislator to newly elected Members of Legislative Assembly of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. "The biggest wish of every MLA is how to become the most popular legislator and there are four important dimensions which, if followed, can make you popular," Sushma said during an orientation programme of first-time MLAs.
Senior leader of Bhartiya Janata Party Sushma Swaraj said that her party was in favour of adopting the second resolution on women's reservation bill, which neither requires any constitutional amendment and also does not warrant reservation for women of any particular constituency.
Doctors decided to discharge her after all her latest biochemical tests were found normal including kidney function.
Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com decodes why Modi has decided to retain her in the Union Cabinet despite this controversy and their many internal differences.
It plans to introduce an amendment to the Anti-defection Law in the winter session of Parliament.
Karnataka ministers G Janardhan Reddy and G Karuanakar Reddy, under pressure over allegations of illegal mining, today paid an unscheduled visit to New Delhi and met senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, after which they dismissed all the charges against them.
The actor has been traced to a mental asylum in the US.
Although 20 persons have tested positive for the SARS virus, none of them have fallen in the WHO definition of the killer disease, she said.
Top shuttlers, including Parupalli Kashyap and H S Prannoy, are waiting for their passports to fly out of the country.
The committee will hold talks with various political parties to broad base the National Democratic Alliance by talking to the political parties that are willing to share the platform.
She won't contest next Lok Sabha poll due to health reasons.
'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years.
The 16-month civil war has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced more than 2.5 million people.
BJP leader Kailash Vijaywargiya said Rohith did not commit suicide due to expulsion from hostel.
India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday said Pakistan "spoiled the talks" by talking to Hurriyat leaders just ahead of foreign secretaries of the two nations were scheduled to meet in Islamabad last month.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances